Audio devices, especially portable ones, have been popular for decades yet continue to increase in popularity. Many modern portable audio devices are intended or suitable for recording or playback of acoustic and/or video signals. For example, portable CD or DVD players, MPEG players, MP-3 players, etc. provide a vast variety of forms of personal entertainment.
Similarly, portable electronic devices in the form of mobile phones, pagers, communicators, e.g., electronic organizers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), smart phones or the like are also increasingly popular. Such devices allow a user to communicate with others, store and manipulate data, create text, etc., many times within the same device.
For many portable audio devices, it is necessary or desirable to have a headset, the headset typically comprising one or more speakers, which may be in the form of one or two earplugs. Typical headsets are either wireless (e.g., Bluetooth or the like) or wired. By using a headset, a user of a mobile phone, for example, can enjoy more privacy such that the others around him or her cannot hear the telephone conversation. Further, by using a suitable microphone in the headset, a telephone call can still be successfully arrived at even though there may be much background noise.
There are a wide variety of headset types, including over-ear headsets, around-ear headsets, on ear headsets, in-concha headsets, in-ear headsets, etc. Each type of headset has advantages and disadvantages with regard to sound quality, ease of use, aesthetics, user comfort, etc.
Two popular headset designs, particularly for headsets used in connection with mobile phones, are the in-concha headset and the in-ear headset. The in-concha headset design generally includes a speaker that is, when properly positioned, received within the concha of the ear of a user (generally the area of the ear surrounding the opening of the ear canal). The in-ear headset design generally includes a speaker and/or insert that is at least partially received within the ear canal of a user when properly positioned. These designs are typically compact and are often supported by a small structure that is secured to the external portion of the ear (e.g., with an ear hook) and/or supported and/or retained within the ear by the concha or ear canal in what amounts to an interference fit.
Speakers, such as ear speakers, can be electrically connected to a standard interface of an audio device by means of 4 mm speaker terminals, or to 3.5 mm or 6 mm connectors. To these interfaces it is possible to connect almost any speakers and ear speakers from different brands and of different models. A drawback of the open standard interface is that the audio device has no knowledge of what speaker is connected, which may lead to poor audio quality. If any, compensation to enhance audio quality in the connected speaker must be handled manually.